Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that the social media and online platform income and donations by non-party political activists are published.

Political parties, candidates and third-party campaigners are subject to strict campaign spending limits and transparency requirements at UK elections. Registered third-party campaigners are required to report all forms of donations related to their campaign activity above the relevant thresholds in their spending returns to the Electoral Commission. Electoral law only covers donations given specifically for regulated campaign activity; it does not cover general income or revenue, whether from social media platforms or other sources. As set out in our Strategy for Modern Elections, we are taking forward a package of measures to strengthen the rules around political finance, some of which will apply to third-party campaigners.